It’s been a dark few weeks. A painful tension lingers in the air, creating a palpable discomfort in every interaction. This certain awkwardness seems to permeate the pleasantries of our everyday life — almost nobody can answer “how are you?” without a sad laugh or a regretful shake of the head. Life simply feels unreal.
On Wednesday, Nov. 6, we didn’t talk about the election results. On Thursday, my first class was spent exchanging tissues and fears. Friday was a day of collective mourning, saying goodbye to our hopes for an outcome that might have signaled just a small step in the direction of progress. Over those few days, I watched my family and friends cycle through each stage of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, and depression. That last one — acceptance — has not come yet. And we should make sure it never does.
By this I do not mean contesting the results of the election — I do believe in a peaceful transfer of power. A denial of Donald Trump’s victory would do no good. The people have spoken. And no matter how much I disagree with their choice, I do accept it as their choice. I feel this way especially because I recognize the flaws in the campaign of the Democratic Party. I am in agreement with fellow columnists at The Daily Pennsylvanian who have argued that the party failed their voter base in this election. They took important groups — the working class and Arab Americans, specifically — for granted, assuming they had secured these votes based on the fact that Trump would be worse for them. But while Democrats made the case that Trump’s policies were bad, they failed to make the case that theirs were good and are now left to deal with those consequences.
And so while I accept the truth that Trump has triumphed in this election, I reject the idea that we must resign ourselves to four years of dictatorship. Instead, the next four years represent a crucial period of organizing and collective action toward a common goal of justice and liberation. Neither party was ever going to save us. We have to save ourselves.
After the 2016 election, we saw mobilization flourish. After eight years of praising Barack Obama, liberals were heartbroken at the thought of Trump taking over the White House. This fear and rage ignited movements across the country. Trump’s history of sexual assault and misogyny brought about the 2017 Women’s March. Along with this, we saw the creation of organizations like the Sunrise Movement and Fridays For Future, protesting Trump’s climate inaction. While we suffered under a Trump presidency, we entered a new era of action.
Studies also tell us that we tend to be more agreeable to breaches of conduct when they are performed by our own party. While this point is often weaponized against Republicans, research suggests that Democrats and Republicans exhibit little difference in their acceptance of norm violations by a president from their party. This logic extends beyond overreaches of power and translates into a general complacency that comes with having one’s own party in the White House. Placated by the belief that someone aligned with us politically is governing, we pay less attention to their actions — even those we disagree with.
While Trump is highly deserving of criticism for his policies, we must also acknowledge the failures of the Democratic Party. While in office, President Joe Biden approved plans for the expansion of fossil fuels countless times, offering permits for the Willow oil-drilling project and the Mountain Valley Pipeline project. He rejected calls to defund the police, instead encouraging the expansion of police departments across the country with stimulus funds. And most notably and cruelly, he remains unwavering in his support for the Israeli government while they commit genocide in Gaza. The Democratic Party has never fully represented the interests of progressives, and the liberal blindness to this fact was chilling. While deeply upsetting, Trump’s election may be the activation the left needs to get their priorities straight and get organized.
Trump’s victory may also trigger a shift toward reinvestment in grassroots organizing and mutual aid. Under a fascist regime, there is nothing more radical than community care, which was a tenet of the Civil Rights Movement championed by the Black Panthers. When the government is not protecting the people, they must protect each other. Organizations like the Yellowhammer Fund, funding reproductive care in the Deep South, and Serve Your City, providing mutual aid to Washington, D.C.’s Ward 6, are essential to this philosophy. They are necessary when Democrats control the White House and United States Congress, and they will be especially essential during a Trump presidency with a Republican-controlled Congress.
Under a government controlled by any party, it feels impossible to make change. Presidents struggle to balance demands of voters with their need for a high approval rating, Congress is perpetually deadlocked, and the courts have an infinite backlog. When we focus on this, exhaustion sets in. But there are always opportunities to get involved in local action and build community solidarity. Instead of a Democratic-controlled government pacifying the people while ignoring our demands, Trump’s presidency will so blatantly violate them that the people will be forced to act. When bureaucracy fails, the people will redirect their attention to taking care of each other. The building and preservation of a strong and unified community is the biggest threat to fascism there is.
INGRID HOLMQUIST is a College sophomore studying urban studies from Silver Spring, Md. Her email address is ingridhh@sas.upenn.edu.
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